Rebel
by Noizless
Summary: Kaede, a girl who never thought she would be associated with the people known as Hunters. She realizes what the fame and fortune could bring for her, and sees a new light in life. She meets more people than she has ever, including a hyper character named Azusa, and some she wishes she had never. But what will Kaede do when Hisoka takes an interest in her new friend? [TEMP HIATUS]
1. The Ninja

_**{Please note: This takes place after the Phantom Troupe arc, sometime during the Chimera Ants arc when Hisoka isn't seen in the manga/anime. Any new revelations in the manga/anime do not and will not affect the outcome of this story's plot.}**_

 **[01] The Ninja**

I wasn't a Hunter. I knew I couldn't be a Hunter. I had no motivation to take the exam. I had no strengths of any kind. I was weak and living in self-pity after I had been kicked out of my home.

This was 4 years ago. And now, here I was, standing in a crowded room with the number 203 pinned to my hoodie. My name is Kaede Naoki. Gave myself the "Naoki" part since I didn't want any part of my parents attached to me. I'm 23 and more than prepared for this challenge, hoping I could make some money and find my purpose in the world.

I glanced around to the other contestants in the room. A lot of them looked a lot tougher than me, standing in the center of the room, flexing their out-of-proportion muscles. The obvious noobs were either hanging back like I was or standing right next to the muscular ones, acting like they did this every day. I stuck closely glued to a wall, earbuds in and volume on my music player at just the right notch to block out the noise and not deafen me. I looked to the ground, hoping the man walking around offering what seemed like canned drinks to people wouldn't come up to me.

Instead, a pair of flip-flopped feet stopped in front of me, and I pretended not to notice. Flip-flop stood there for a while, me continuing my staring game with the ground until I felt a tap on my head. I flinched and finally looked up to see something I didn't expect. Standing before me was a girl, but not just any girl. She was almost childlike, wearing a pair of short overalls with a tank top underneath and deep purple hair parted all to one side in a gravity and logic defying way. She was considerably shorter than me, the top of her head probably only coming up to my shoulder. She was smiling widely, borderline stupidly. I stood staring at her, wondering why the hell she was standing before me. I hesitantly and cautiously pulled out one of my earbuds. This caused her smile to cross into the stupid border.

"Hiya, name's Azusa. What's yours? Are you new to the Hunter Exam? I am. I am so nervous. You must be nervous, too." The girl spewed, making me deeply regret acknowledging her presence. Her voice wasn't as annoying as I had originally expected it to be. I couldn't say the same for her style of speaking. She stopped suddenly, urging me to fill the silence.

"Kaede." was my only answer, which Azusa seemed content with as she continued on in a flurry.

"Nice to meet ya! Kaede's kinda an unusual name. All old-fashioned and ninja-y. You looked lonely so I wanted to come talk to you. I don't have any friends here and it's so boring being alone with no one to talk to." Again, I regretted answering her. She started like someone who just wanted to hear their own voice, and I knew she would never speak to me again as soon as this thing was over. Maybe even after we left this room. I didn't want to socialize at all, but maybe others would leave me alone if she was around. I decided to humor this hyper girl and hopefully get some kind of benefit out of it.

"Yeah, it is lonely. Too bad most of the people that talk to the rookies are ones that only want to prevent them from passing." My tone was a bit sharper than I had intended, but it seemed it went over the girl's head anyway. I pointed my thumb toward the drink guy. I'm sure there were many others, but he was the most obvious. And Azusa was almost just as suspicious, but I dare not say that to her. If she picked up that I was including her in the suspicion, she didn't show it. Actually, she seemed more confused than anything.

"Huh? He's being nice, though. The juice he has must be outdated, though, cuz it was nasty, but there's no way he would want to prevent anyone from passing." I began wondering if she was flat-out dumb. She accepted a drink from an obviously suspicious man, and on top of that, she drank it and still didn't think anything strange. My jaw almost dropped and I wondered if it would be worth it getting anything out of this girl, if I got anything at all. I stared at her dumbfounded and she stared at me confused.

"Anyway," I finally broke the stare and silence. "What do you plan to do after this thing?" I was becoming more relaxed talking to her, I even plucked out my other earbud.

"Oh, I want to become a Gourmet Hunter and open a cafe in Yorknew and become the greatest chef in the world!" Azusa lit up in a way that made her seem even more childish. "What are you planning on doing? Personally, you don't even seem like the type of person who would be a Hunter. You look more like someone who would hide out in their room and just listen to screamo all day. But good for you for going out on a limb!" She chirped and patted my shoulder.

'Half right, I prefer hard rock,' I thought as I shook her hand off my shoulder. "Well, I need a job, and being a Hunter makes a lot of money." I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Ah, well...that's one reason...I guess..." Azusa seemed wary of my reasoning, but, I mean, who wouldn't be. "But, you don't seem very fit for the Hunter Exam. I hear these things are tough and only like a few people make it through. A lot die during the exam. Are you gonna be alright?" Again, I was staring at her, baffled.

"You're scrawnier than me and you're worried about me making it through?" I held up my hand to her height to emphasize my point. She laughed cheerily and waved her hand in dismissal.  
"I'll be fine! I have a secret weapon perfect for these things!" With this proclamation, Azusa glanced around, as if to make sure no one else was listening. She then held up her hand to shield her mouth on one side and whispered, "I'm a ninja."

I nearly died. She wasn't serious, was she? I didn't doubt that ninja existed, but this happy-go-lucky shorty couldn't possibly be a ninja, right? I believe now she finally caught on to my subtle expressions and nodded, stupid grin plastered to her face once more.

Before she could continue on and I could ask anything, a loud ringing echoed through the room. Azusa clamped her hands over her ears quickly, and I cringed at the solid, high-pitched sound. Metal doors I hadn't noticed before, placed at equal intervals along the walls, began sliding open with a dull grinding sound, the ringing giving way to the new noise. I tensed up, preparing for what I only assumed would be an all-out fight with some super dangerous and overpowered creature. I turned to the nearest door and awaited the monster lurking in the hidden crevice.  
What emerged was far from a monster, though. A man with brilliant red hair closely resembling a fire atop his head emerged from the door. Glancing to the other doors, I realized the same man was now standing outside every door. Still tensed, I looked to Azusa, who was still holding her head in her hands.

"Hey, Azusa," I set a hand on her arm and called to her quietly. She flinched, grabbing my wrist in a reflexive death grip. I swore I saw her eyes flash red for a second until she realized it was only me. She let go of my now bruised wrist and pulled her hand back to herself.

"S-sorry..." she mumbled, a complete turnaround of her attitude up til now. My view of her changed in those few seconds. This girl was housing something dark that she wished to overshadow with her cheerfulness.

While I was busy contemplating this new mystery, Azusa had regained her original hyper attitude and was bouncing on her toes, as if preparing for an MMA fight. With a new light shed upon the midget, I couldn't help but feel the need to stay by her. As she opened her mouth to speak, a voice boomed over hers from all corners of the vicinity.

"Now, shall we begin?"


	2. Hiatus Notice Bonus

**Important Update!**

As of now until further notice, this story ("Rebel") will be on temporary hiatus. I am going to be focusing on another of my fanfictions (a Kingdom Hearts one called "Lightening", please go support it). For more details, please go see my profile.

I know this story seems like it just started, and I apologize if this gets your hopes up about a chapter update, but since I'm not supposed to dedicate an entire chapter to an author's note, I will include a short (and I mean short) side-story. Thank you for your understanding and patience!

 _-Noizless_

 **. . .**

Azumi was more excitable than usual that day. She always seemed like she was about to start bouncing off the walls at any moment, but today...today was different.

"Kaede, Kaede, Kaede, Kaede! Can you guess what today is?! Huh?! Huh?!" The small girl clung to my arm and shook me with enough force to give a normal person motion sickness. I originally wanted to ignore her and just let her talk to no one in particular, like usual. But of course, she had to make physical contact and directly question me. I rubbed my temple with closed eyes and an annoyed look.

"What?" I could hear Azumi pout as I didn't play along with her guessing game. I almost thought she was going to give up and sulk by herself, but I was quickly proven wrong as she bounced right back.

"Welllll, it's the day we get to fight together at Heaven's Arena~!" The small girl cheered happily. I groaned, realizing that was today.

"It's not 'fight together', it's 'fight against one another'," I corrected her. She didn't seem to care either way as she released my arm and danced around.

In all honesty...I was scared for my life.

 **. . .**

I'm glad to say, I am still alive, yet sad to report that I got my ass kicked royally that day. I will never go back to Heaven's Arena with this girl. But. Azumi 'mysteriously' disappeared after her fight with a certain clown, so my other highlight was that I got to go rescue one lunatic from another.


End file.
